Les Demeurées

Translations: The show is available in French, English, Italian and Dutch. Each spectator is free to choose his or her language.

Length of the show: A 21 minute show for one person at a time, entrances every 3 minutes

Number of sessions per day: 2

Audience size: 40 people per session / 80 people per day

Workshops: in 2013-2014 Begat Theater proposes a project regrouping Book Art workshops and expositions in 8 towns in the South of France, in the Pays de Haute-Provence-Luberon. More information on the French part of the web site : Rentrez dans l’Alphabet

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Presentation

Presentation

From the outside of the box, nothing is revealed about the journey you are going to take. Every three minutes, a bell rings: an actor allows you, one at a time, to penetrate inside the enigmatic structure, a living book that invites you through its pages to meet the characters of the novel: the Varienne, the village idiot, the one who perceives the world differently, Luce, her daughter and the primary school teacher Miss Solange, who has decided she will open the doors of knowledge to Luce.

Begat Theater proposes a unique adaptation of a contemporary novel that is both performance and installation: Les Demeurées by Jeanne Benameur is a fable of another time with universal resonance questioning handicap, separation, and access to knowledge.

About the novel by Jeanne Benameur, Les Demeurées

The mother, the Varienne, is the village idiot. The little one, she’s Luce. Something in her has stopped. Nevertheless, the two of them, form a block of love. Invincible. School threatens this fusion. The primary school teacher, Miss Solange, wants to tear the child away from ignorance, because knowledge is compulsory. But can we cross the threshold of this world without consequences? The art of the pure, the quintessence of emotion, such is the secret of Les Demeurées. Jeanne Benameur, like a lace maker, places her words with infinite modesty and her words catch in your throat. – Folio

Comments about the show by the author Jeanne Benameur

“Strong, so strong. These are the words that come to me after the unique experience offered by Begat Theater. The solitary passages proposed by this installation of Les Demeurées made me relive the strangeness which inhabited me during all of the writing process. It was unexpected for me. Deeply moving. Thank you for the sincerity. It is rare.”

Support

With the support of the Conseil Général des Alpes de Haute Provence and the Conseil Régional PACA

video

Photos

Press

Télérama – Nº 3140, du 20-26 mars 2010

Les DemeuréesTTT The most beautiful emotion from the 2009 street theatre season! In its box of stories, Begat Theater, inspired by Jeanne Benameur’s novel, tells the story of Luce’s difficult learning process. Provided with an audio headset, each spectator goes alone through this installation-show. From one small room to another, the audience member discovers traces of a life, and pearls of hope… Silhouettes appear suddenly from the walls, grab your attention, brush up against you and leave silently. The beauty of the set design strengthens the poetic impact of this unique theatrical experience. Unforgettable! – Thierry Voisin

Festival Chalon dans la rue – july 2008

Les Demeurées. The story, quite simple, inspired by Jeanne Benameur’s novel, stages a young peasant and a primary school teacher, both silent, who guide the spectator from tableau to tableau. The strength of the performance, the pertinence of the text, the set design full of imagery make this show a great choice, confirming the vitality of street theatre. – Floriane Gaber